The Touchstone

Edith Wharton (1862-1937) was an American novelist and short story writer. Her works show the lives of people of the late nineteenth century, the times of decline in American history. She was the first woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Literature in 1921. Wharton also was familiar with many famous people of the time, including President Theodore Roosevelt. "The Touchstone" tells the story of Stephen Glennard, a man whose career is almost over. He does not have money to marry the woman he loves, and in despair, he sells the private letters that his recently deceased lover sent to him. As expected, this act entails only grief and a sense of guilt.